In Defense of the Faith

Did The Popes Change The Sabbath?

But is it correct to say that the Sabbath was changed by the popes? Was it not rather by church councils and the edicts of emperors? Mr. Canright scoffs at the idea, and tauntingly asks, Which pope? We reply that the actions of any council or any member of councils could not have established the canon law of the church without the full approval of the bishops and popes. Had the Council of Laodicea not later been, either officially or otherwise, approved by the church hierarchy, its canons never could have been taken almost bodily into the canon law and preserved there until the present day. To make any doctrine really Catholic it must have the approval of the popes. DOF 186.5

The pope is not only a man elevated by vote of the cardinals to be the visible head of the Catholic Church, but he is the very embodiment of the whole papal system, the name itself being derived from the office. “Papal, of or pertaining to the pope.”—Webster. It follows that what the Papacy does the pope does; and the acts of the Papacy may very properly be attributed to the pope. When we speak of Pharaoh as the oppressor of the children of Israel, we do not think of any particular ruler; in fact, we have every reason to believe that there was more than one. We think rather of the whole government of Egypt represented by Pharaoh. Similarly, when we speak of the pope, we do not necessarily think of one particular pope, but of the whole order of popes, and of the organization represented by the popes. DOF 187.1

On this point we have the following terse statements bf the Catholic historian Hefele: DOF 187.2

“The decrees of the ancient ecumenical councils were confirmed by the emperors and by the popes; those of the later councils by the popes alone.”—Rev. Charles Joseph Hefele, D.D., A History of the Church Councils, to AD. 25 (first volume), p.. 42. DOF 187.3

“We see from these considerations of what value the sanction of the Pope is to the decrees of a council. Until the Pope has sanctioned these decrees, the assembly of bishops which formed them cannot pretend to the authority belonging to an ecumenical council, however great a number of bishops may compose it; for there cannot he an ecumenical council without union with the Pope. DOF 187.4

“This sanction of the Pope is also necessary for insuring infallibility to the decisions of the council. According to Catholic doctrine, this prerogative can be claimed only for the decisions of ecumenical councils, and only for their decisions in rebus fidei et morum [in matters of faith and morals], not for purely disciplinary decrees.”—Ibid., p. 52. DOF 188.1

From another Catholic source we quote the following amazing declarations: DOF 188.2

“The [the Pope] is not subject to them [the canons of the church], because he is competent to modify or to annul them when he holds this to be best for the church.”—The Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 12, art. “Pope,” p. 268. DOF 188.3

“The Pope is of so great dignity and so exalted that he is not a mere man, but as it were God, and the vicar of God.... DOF 188.4

“The Pope by reason of the excellence of his supreme dignity is called bishop of bishops.... DOF 188.5

“He is likewise bishop of the universal church. DOF 188.6

“He is likewise the divine monarch and supreme emperor, and king of kings. DOF 188.7

“Hence the Pope is crowned with a triple crown, as king of heaven and of earth and of the lower regions. DOF 188.8

“Moreover the superiority and the power of the Roman Pontiff by no means pertain only to heavenly things, to earthly things, and to things under the earth, but are even over angels, than whom he is greater. DOF 188.9

“So that if it were possible that the angels might err in the faith, or might think contrary to the faith, they could he judged and excommunicated by the Pope. DOF 188.10

“For he is of so great dignity and power that he forms one and the same tribunal with Christ. DOF 188.11

“So that whatever the Pope does, seems to proceed from the mouth of God, as according to most doctors, etc. DOF 189.1

“The Pope is as it were God on earth, sole sovereign of the faithful of Christ, chief king of kings, having plenitude of power, to whom has been entrusted by the omnipotent God, direction not only of the earthly but also of the heavenly kingdom. DOF 189.2

“The Pope is of so great authority and power that he can modify, explain, or interpret even divine laws.”—Extracts from Ferraris’s Ecclesiastical Dictionary (R.C.), art. “Pope.” DOF 189.3

“The full title of this work is ‘Prompta Bibliotheca canonica, juridica, moralis, theologica nec non ascetica, polemica, rubricistica, historica.’ There have been various editions of this book since the first was published in 1746, the, latest one being issued from Rome in 1899 at the Press of Propaganda. This shows that this work still has the approval of the Roman Catholic hierarchy, and the Catholic Encyclopedia (Vol. VI, p. 48) speaks of it as a veritable cyclopedia of religious knowledge’ and ‘a precious mine of information.’ It is therefore legitimate to conclude that the, statements in this work represent the current Roman Catholic view concerning the power and authority of the Pope.”—Note on the above quotation by the editors of the Source Book for Bible Students, Review and Herald Pub Assn., Washington, D.C. DOF 189.4

Thus it is clear that any number of actions taken by church councils regarding Sunday observance, or anything else, for that matter, could not have become accepted canon of the Roman Catholic Church without the full approval of the popes. Had they been displeased with any of these, they had the full authority to alter them at will. DOF 189.5

Now is the action of the Council of Laodicea regarding the change of the Sabbath recognized by the Roman Catholic Church as a binding obligation, and does the Roman Catholic Church recognize that the action involved a literal change of the Sabbath? For reply we quote the following from a recent Roman Catholic Catechism: DOF 189.6

“Question. Which is the Sabbath day? DOF 190.1

“Answer. Saturday is the Sabbath day. DOF 190.2

“Question. Why do we observe Sunday instead of Saturday? DOF 190.3

“Answer. We observe Sunday instead of Saturday because the Catholic Church, in the Council of Laodicea (336 A. D.), transferred the solemnity from Saturday to Sunday.”—Rev. Peter Geiermann, C.S.S.R., The Convert’s Catechism of Catholic Doctrine (2nd ed., 1910), p. 50. (This work received the “apostolic blessing” of Pope Pius X, Jan. 25, 1910.) DOF 190.4

Note that this catechism received the blessing of Pope Pius X, which indicates that he approved and endorsed all its teachings. DOF 190.5

Now, we believe that we have offered conclusive proof on three very important points: DOF 190.6

1. Sunday observance originated in heathenism. DOF 190.7

2. Sunday observance as a Christian ordinance is wholly a Catholic institution. DOF 190.8

3. The change was made from Saturday to Sunday by actions of church councils, bulls issued by the popes, laws promulgated by Catholic emperors, and by the approval of popes of the various council proceedings. DOF 190.9

We unhesitatingly reiterate, therefore, that Sunday is a papal festival, borrowed from paganism, and that the original Sabbath was changed by the church councils and the popes. The church could not have done it without the approval and blessing of the popes, and this was given in the most active ‘manner, as we have already seen. Thus Mr. Canright’s challenge to Seventh-day Adventists that the popes did not change the Sabbath is effectually answered. DOF 190.10